Categories

Blogroll

Meta

Subscribe

July 1979

July 26th 2006, 12:00 am. Something doesn’t look right. After that strange lightening storm, the lights in New York are different.
12:01 am. “This is channel 4 news, bringing to you a special report. We don’t have our expected news feeds, and we are hearing news headlines that don’t make sense. Paul Volcker has been named President of the Federal Reserve. The Sandinistas have recently taken control of Nicaragua. These are events that happened in 1979. Saddam Hussein has been named President of Iraq 10 days ago.”
12:45 am. “This just in, the pilot of flight 2213 from London, passing from Connecticut to New York, reports seeing the World Trade Center. Phone connections are not working outside of New England.
5:11 am. Channel 4 shows a graphic with a clock and the words “New England Adrift in Time.”
“Bringing to you continuing coverage of todays incredible events. Persons in every part of all 6 states of New England report today’s date as July 26th 2006. In every other location of the world, the date is July 26th 1979 5:11am, adjusted for their time zone. At 6:00 am Eastern Daylight time, President Carter will address the nation.
6:00am. “On behalf of the people of 1979, I want to welcome our new inhabitants from the year 2006. Our prayers go out to those missing loved ones in New England. We are gratified to know that in many cases they have been found, 27 years older. In other cases we learn that they lived full lives in the years after 1979. There will be many issues to work out, including energy supplies, ownership of property, people who are both in 1979 outside of New England, and in 2006 in New England. We are up to the challenge. There will also be new hopes, technologies that have been developed in the 27 years. There have been some new deadly contagious diseases, even to 2006 technology, but my understanding is that they have existed before 1979, but have not been noticed yet.”930am, Senator Ted Kennedy’s office. “The, ah, distinguished Senator from Massachusetts.”.
“And am I, ah, addressing the Senator or ex-President?”
“Still Senator, you would have been riding high in the polls, until November when the Iranians seize the US embassy staff as hostages. Then in late December, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The voters rally around Carter. By April, and a failed rescue attempt, and the Soviets still in Afghanistan, the polls go decisively towards Ronald Reagan, and he coasts to November, and takes the Senate majority also.”
“I, ah see”
“You do get the third harbor tunnel for Boston, and an underground central artery. Costs 15 billion dollars, maybe 7 billion in 1979 dollars. Mostly finished in 2004, and by 2006 is falling apart with shoddy workmanship and design.”
“How about the harbor cleanup?”
“It gets done, but too late for Mike Dukakis. In 1988, George Bush, VP under Reagan for 2 terms, beats him. He used the dirty water to tar and feather him. In 2004, his son beats Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.”
“The Middlesex assistant DA who went after Senator Brooke?”
“The same one.”
“So which one of us sits in the Senate chambers?”
“We shouldn’t work it out between ourselves. It would set a precedent. Let’s see who is here in 1979, and which way gives us more Democratic seats.”
“Agreed.”

11am. All US embassy staff are ordered to leave Iran, and to fire in self defence at any attempt to seize them. Naval forces are ordered to the region.

Wal-Mart formally takes control of the New England Wal-Marts.
Sears and KMart headquarters are very confused about what to do. Some suggest a merger in 1979.
IBM decides to rush towards selling a PC with their own operating system. Some of their operating units in Massachusetts are sending to their headquarters, in New York, designs for a PC using 1979 chips, and a version of Linux that can run on that platform. They also send them a spreadsheet program that is owned by IBM and is already optimized to run on the 8088 microprocessor.

A Visit.July 28th, 1979.

John Abram, aged 32 lives in Waterford Connecticut with his wife and 5 year old son. He is from Princeton New Jersey.

July 26th:

“Hello Dad?”

“Hello, who is this?”

“It’s me, Johnny. I’m 32 years old.”

“Johnny, is that you?”

later:

“OK, are you sure you have room for us?”

“Sure, I think your boy can share little Johnny’s room.”

“Which route is better in 1979?”

“Take the Outer Bridge crossing, I’ll go over the directions”

Loading up the car:

“Are you sure we can use today’s money?”

“That’s what they said on the radio.”

“I still think we should stop at a bank that can change it for 1979 bills.”

“We don’t need the EZPass, they don’t have those yet.”

Approaching New York:

“There’s the 1 mile marker. Why the flashing lights, and speed limit of 30 miles per hour?”.

“We’re in New York, in 1979! I think they are fixing that bump on the border.”